"Now people don't even think he's going to come back and have a tent! I've got a list here, and I hope I don't forget them. I want to go over this list of these things that are THUS SAITH THE LORD that we have got to look forward to. I mean, we not only can hang our hat on these, we can hang our soul on these."

The first time I heard that statement, I was fully engrossed in the "Message" of William Branham. I owned the full testimony of Evan Mosley, and watched with eager anticipation to hear more about this man who walked with the "prophet." I knew about the prophecies yet unfulfilled, was unaware of the prophecies that had failed, and did not consider William Branham's death in 1965 to be clear sign of failure for the unfulfilled prophecies mentioned in the video. Should any person have challenged it, I would have gladly stood in front of a firing line to defend William Branham in the face of death.

But now, after having studied the details of prophecies that should have already been fulfilled, it paints a very different picture. The man in the video is sincere, and the stories that he tells are very real to him. William Branham did tell this man to buy an airplane, did tell him that he would be with him in the next hunting trip, and fully convinced him that there would be a "future" "tent." And not just a tent -- there would be a little room inside the tent where people would receive new bodies.

Looking back, I feel very sorry for these men who were and are "pillars" in the "Message." They are not aware of the mind control that have held them captive for all of these years. They are not aware how different their religion is from the Bible, and have no idea that they have replaced salvation through the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a different kind of salvation. Like so many in this cult, they have staked their soul on the failed prophecies of William Branham.

Most in the cult are unaware of the yet unfulfilled "future" prophecies that the elders of the "Message" are anticipating. I've spoken with men and women who are aware, however, and they do not consider Branham's death in 1965 to signify a failed prophecy. How do they reconcile this? By adding details to the prophecy.

Through cognitive dissonance, any who are aware of the "future" unfulfilled prophecies must find ways to create alternative versions of truth. The most common invention is the idea that William Branham will rise from his pyramid grave to fulfill the prophecies before the End of Days. For this reason, and though it has died down in recent years, many gather in Jeffersonville, Indiana at Easter time to see if the "prophet resurrection" will happen each year. Men I grew up with held prayer vigils at sunrise each easter, surrounded by people from foreign nations who came to witness the rising of their "prophet." Like the woman at Jesus' tomb, they are looking for their "savior," and they have been programmed to believe that he is more than just a man. As the former pastor of the Branham Tabernacle claimed, they truly believe that William Branham was "God tabernacled in human flesh."

But as I watch these testimonies from these sincere hearts, I cannot help but feel compassion for them. I once was there. I, too, believed William Branham would return to fulfill the prophecies that did not come to pass. I, too, believed in the bear, the plane, and the tent.